Reviews for Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II

The average rating for Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-11-14 00:00:00 Barry Ma As a kid one of my favorite television shows was Jacques Cousteau's Undersea Kingdom. I was enthralled with the idea of scuba divers swimming with dolphins and looking for sunken treasures and video taping their findings for the world to see. While Cousteau's weekly program showed coral reefs and shallow water scuba diving that many tourists engage in, he on occasion aired a program about deep sea divers searching for the sea's mysteries. When the nonfiction book club on goodreads selected Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson as one of the group's monthly reads, I had my curiosity piqued. Combining two of my interests, history and marine life, Kurson takes his readers on an adventure to discover the identity of one of the last World War II vintage ship wrecks. Although not as breathtaking as Jacques Cousteau's videos, I knew that I would be in for a death defying ride. Bill Nagle was considered a legend in the North Atlantic deep sea diving community. Engaging in multiple dives to offshore ship wrecks each summer, Nagle dove for the sheer pleasure of it and to unlock clues to the mysteries of the deep. His legend grew to mythic proportions when he rescued the bell from the Andrea Doria and soon began to charter trips to various deep sea wrecks from his boat the Seeker. Although his sport has its risks, Nagle took measured risks in all of his dives, obtaining relics from wrecks up and down the Atlantic seaboard. His name growing to become one of the leaders of his sport, one day a chance meeting lead Nagle to secret coordinates of the coast of Brielle, New Jersey where laying on the ocean's floor was a sunken U-boat. Quickly assembling a team of only the best divers to submerge to the risky depth of 230 feet, the race to discover the mystery of a sunken World War II vintage submarine had begun. Emerging as the leaders of the quest to obtain the identity of the Who-Boat were John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, Kurson's leading informants on this project. Both men came of age during the Vietnam years, never attended college, and felt more at home in the sea than on land. Chatterton dove to find himself and Kohler, on this mission especially, to find the identity of seamen in order to bring a sense of closure to their families. The two divers despite their at times differing ideologies were kindred spirits. Between 1991 and 1997 either on dives or during research, the two divers stopped at nothing to find out the identity of the mystery U-boat. Whether it was in the form of meetings at restaurants, late night phone calls, or fact seeking missions to the United States Naval Archives in Washington, D.C., Chatterton and Kohler would not rest physically or emotionally until they knew for certain the identity of their mystery U-boat. With the divers as his guides, Kurson pieces together the difficulty in solving a unique case. I gravitate toward fictional mysteries in between heavier reads to clear my palette, but Kurson has introduced his readers to a truthful mystery. What is the identity of the U-boat? When did it sink and why? In what part of the submarine could divers finally discover the truth to its identity? The search was not without peril as three divers died and others nearly drowned during dives to the wreck. Chatterton and Kohler would not relent on their quest, both at the expense of their marriages. The men would question naval authorities and mentally videotape the rooms of a U-boat both underwater and in museums in order to finally piece together the clues that would solve this great mystery. Kurson was fortunate to be along for the ride. Bill Nagle was not alive when this mystery was solved, succumbing to cirrhosis after a lifetime of drinking. Chatterton and Kohler persisted even after many members of Nagle's original dive team aboard the Seeker dropped out. After six years they would not rest until they knew the identity of the U-boat and were able to deliver the news to the victim's families after over fifty years of uncertainties. Even though at times I grew frustrated especially as I came to know the dangers of deep sea diving, I remained with Chatterton and Kohler for the duration of their mission. While not a book I would necessarily choose had it not been a group read, I was enthralled by both the history lessons and secrets of the deep, which Kurson unravels over the course of this compelling book. 3.75 stars

Review # 2 was written on 2009-11-17 00:00:00 Tony Gibson Things that don't interest me: --military history --WWII --submarines --other ocean-going vessels --maritime terminology --scuba diving Oddly enough, these are what this book is about and whenever real life forced me to set it down and walk away for awhile, I spent an absurd amount of time thinking about it and frantically wondering, "what next? Tell me more! I need to know more!" I think that means Robert Kurson might be a brilliant writer. My husband is a U.S. Navy submarine veteran and belongs to a local base of crusty submariners (most of the members are WWII era gents) and whenever I've attended one of their events with him, the technical discussions about submarine qualifications and specifications bores me to tears. And yet I've been talking my husband's ear off all week about German U-boats. He keeps looking at me like he doesn't know me.